


carmine helianthus

by iry



Category: OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:33:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28875741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iry/pseuds/iry
Summary: They were finally together again. Well, almost. Basil won't come out of his room, but Hero's sure that they'll be able to wake him up tomorrow to give Sunny a proper goodbye.Hero, Kel, and Aubrey deal with the shattered remains of a truth they've yet to learn.
Comments: 29
Kudos: 249





	carmine helianthus

**Author's Note:**

> tw for violence/mental illness/suicide/everything that happens in omori. spoilers for the end of the game. unbeta'd.
> 
> i honestly think omori stands strong on its own and so i was hesitant to write anything for it, but also i can't stop thinking about it.
> 
> hero's pov was really hard to write honestly and i don't think i accomplished what i wanted with this. but i want omori to have more fic so i will contribute my humble offering.

Hero hears a noise, just barely audible over the low drone of the TV.

It breaks through his quiet dreams, but Hero rolls over on his side, trying to ignore it. He’s more comfortable than he thought he would ever be, lying on the floor of Basil’s living room sandwiched between his brother and Sunny.

Hero’s had trouble sleeping ever since Mari died. He maintains a strict routine to counteract that, but it’s been completely disturbed by two consecutive nights of sleepovers. Hero doesn’t want to admit that he internally groaned at the thought of having a second sleepover in a row, but after dragging a far-too-light Basil from the depths of the lake, and seeing Sunny’s haunted eyes turn to meet his own this morning as he avoided eating breakfast, Hero refuses to leave either of them alone.

In the aftermath of everything, Hero had spent night after night poring over mental health guides, learning the DSM definitions for everything, reading academic paper after paper, trying to figure out where he’d failed. Hoping to find some sort of atonement for missing all the signs. Hero’d never figured it out. Mari's death remained the biggest failure in his entire life.

Sunny was nothing like his sister, shy and stone-faced.

But, Sunny’s quiet nature couldn’t hide the signs Hero had rigorously trained himself to never miss again.

Man, his thoughts tonight kept turning dark. The people on the TV they left on arguing about something that Hero tries to tune out. It's so late and the shadows of Hero's dreams pull at him. He keeps seeing Sunny in his dreams, his pale face more disconcerting than comforting.

Hero slowly blinks open his eyes, acknowledging that he won’t get any more sleep tonight.

Sunny’s gone.

To the bathroom maybe? Hero yawns, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Kel’s completely passed out next to him, snoring. He's had a rough few days from what little Hero can tell, but Kel'd tried his best to get the group together again. He'd even managed to pull Sunny out of his house for the first time in years! Hero feels thankful and, weirdly, a little proud of him for working so hard. He'll have to be sure to tell Kel that.

A quick glance at the couch confirms that Aubrey is still asleep as well, her face covered by her bright pink hair. Her... bow? headband? Hero isn't quite sure what it is, lies carefully removed on the arm of the couch. She's curled up into a ball, hugging a pillow like she used to hug her stuffed eggplant. It's cute, but he feels like the current Aubrey wouldn't appreciate being called that. Aubrey's changed a lot. He needs to figure out if she'd rather be called cute or strong. Or both?

Hero slowly sits up, aware of Aubrey and Kel fast asleep nearby. An infomercial mumbles on the TV about some kitchen appliance that's so specific that Hero knows it would be completely useless. He gets lost for a moment mentally grumbling about the correct usage of cheese graters. Hero's no stranger to long nights, but with Kel and Aubrey besides him asleep, it almost feels just another late night watching them. For a moment, his half-awake mind forgets when he is, and it's easy for him to imagine that's it's just another late night watching his younger friends with Mari beside him, her head leaning on his shoulder as she teases him for caring about a silly infomercial. Her long hair making it difficult for him to see her face nestled in the nook between his neck and shoulder. The two of them exhausted but finding a quiet moment together.

For the first time in a long time, that thought doesn't fill him with guilt.

“HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!” bursts through Hero’s haze, followed shortly by something large crashing violently to the ground.

Hero’s eyes shoot open, heart beating out of his chest.

‘Not again.’

Hero jumps to his feet, trying to de-tangle himself from where he was comfortably wrapped in his quilt. He trips a bit on the rug, but rights himself quickly. He rushes towards the noise, running down the hall. It must have come from Basil's room, he deduces when he hears another loud scream. He makes it to Basil’s room in record time. Hero pulls on Basil’s door, but it doesn’t open.

It's locked.

'Not again, not again, not again'

“Basil?” Hero asks, voice shaking, hoping that he’s wrong.

Instead of opening, the door shutters with a heavy thud, a choked gasp escaping whatever was shoved against it.

“Why won’t you stop?!” Basil screams with a rage that Hero never thought Basil was capable of. Basil, who'd protect even the tiniest spider he found near his flowers. Basil, who'd never once yelled at anyone in their group. What is he doing? Hero desperately grabs at the door handle, pulling with all his might.

It doesn’t budge.

There’s another thud from behind the door, followed by a choked gasp.

It’s Sunny, Hero realizes numbly as Sunny lets out an agonized cry that tears Hero’s heart open. Are they fighting? Why?

Hero doesn’t understand.

Basil’s sobbing quickly turns to too fast breaths and mutters that Hero can’t make out. Sunny's crying too, barely audible but there.

“Basil, please stop!” Hero hears himself yell, “Open the door!”

Basil doesn't respond to him. Hero needs to get this door open. He backs up, trying to figure out what to do, but his vision is blurred by panic, he can’t focus.

‘Not again, not again, not again, not again.’

Hero isn’t strong enough to break the door down, but he recognizes the lock from somewhere. It’s-it’s something he’s seen before. He stares at it as seconds tick by, trying to remember what to do.

The sobs behind the door turn to rasping inhales, growing softer and softer. He hears something clatter to the floor.

‘Not again, not again, not again.’

It’s an older lock, Hero remembers, remembers showing Aubrey how to reinforce her own lock because they were so weak that it could be so easily tricked open with- with what?

“What the hell is going on?!” A hand yanks hard on his shoulder, turning Hero to the side.

Aubrey stands beside him. Her hair is a mess and her eyes are narrowed in anger, but her hand grasping onto him is shaking.

“I-it’s locked.” Hero says, at a loss. His eyes dart to the door as another sob breaks through the silence, then back to Aubrey who stares at the door with horror, the same suspicion in her mind.

“Move.” Aubrey says, shoving Hero out of the way.

Aubrey pulls back and slams her foot into the door near the handle. There’s a crack, and Aubrey immediately pulls back to do it again.

The door cracks enough that the handle loosens. Hero’s able to reach his arm in to awkwardly turn the handle, slowly inching the door forward.

‘Not again, not again, not again.’

“Basil?” Hero says, “Sunny?”

No one responds.

Hero opens the door.

It’s dark, but with the moonlight Hero can make out the basic shapes of his friends.

Basil’s muttering something to himself, bent over another person that must be Sunny, arms encircling him and covering his body entirely as if to guard him. A dark shadow hunched over another dark shadow, barely visible in the moonlight that peaks into the room.

Basil lifts his head, the eerie glow of his green eyes the only thing Hero can see clearly in the darkness.

For a brief moment Hero’s outside, staring at a body he never saw hanging from a tree, swaying softly in the breeze.

Sunny isn't moving.

One of Basil’s floor pots lies shattered in the doorway, shattered pottery and white petals crunch under Hero’s heel as he takes a single step into the room. The smell of overturned dirt and flowers reminds him of the only funeral he's ever been to. Aubrey places a hand on his arm, but Hero can hardly feel it. His entire body’s gone numb, unable to process what he's seeing in front of him. As Aubrey peers out from behind him, he hears her choke.

Aubrey says something but it’s another world away from Hero. Suddenly she’s gone, rushing down the hallway and out the door. Hero’s alone.

“Basil-“ Hero starts, at a total loss for words, “Basil what-“

“St-stay away from us!” Basil pleads, voice trembling with fear. Basil doesn’t seem to recognize him. His eyes aren’t focusing on anything, darting around the room violently like they're searching for something.

He’s crying, tears streaming down his face.

Hero puts his hands up, placating, silently begging Basil to calm down. Hero doesn't know what to say in the face of this, but he has to try something, has to get Basil away from Sunny so he can check on him.

“Basil, it’s me.” Hero says, “You’re okay, everything’s going to be o-“

Basil interrupts him with a ragged laugh, hiccuped between sobs.

“No, no, no, no no no no.” Basil keeps saying, shaking his head back and forth. Basil stays crouched over Sunny’s body, but his entire body is trembling, his thin arms struggling to hold himself up.

“Please Basil, what happened?” Hero tries desperately, “Are you alright?”

There's a long pause as Basil starts shaking harder, his head slowly lowering even as his eyes rise to meet Hero's.

“There’s- Something-“ Basil starts to say, eyes blinking blearily at him for a moment.

His bright eyes flicker shut as he loses his strength entirely, falling onto Sunny’s chest.

It’s quiet. No one moves.

Finding the light switch with a shaky hand, Hero flips it on.

He can’t even begin to understand the sight in front of him.

‘Not again, not again, not again, not again not again not again not again not again not again not again notagainnotagainnotagainnotagainnotagainnotagainnotagainnotagain'

For one horrible second, Hero thinks that they'll never be able to overcome this, this thing that led to Mari's death. Maybe this is his punishment. He wishes Mari were here, she'd know what to do. She'd always known what to do, even when she was wrong. Hero is less than nothing without her and now he's going to lose her little brother and his best friend to this.

'Mari, what... what should I do?'

Hero doesn't know the answer because she's gone and will never tell him.

But, but, Hero wants to think she'd want to save her little brother and Basil.

Hero doesn't want to lose anyone again. And so, he takes a deep breath, focuses, and steps fully into the room.

The room is a mess. A chair is tipped over, the shelf with most of Basil’s plants has fallen over. There’s pottery shards and dirt everywhere. Flowers of all kinds and colors are strewn all over the floor, crushed and destroyed.

A pair of Basil’s gardening sheers lie on the ground, stained a wet red. The sight of them shocks Hero to his core, making him pause before he can gather up his courage to look more closely at his friends.

Basil and Sunny are barely a foot away from the door, passed out in a heap. Basil’s head rests on Sunny’s chest, his blond hair dyed red with bloody splotches, his body splayed over Sunny’s. Even unconscious, Basil blocks Sunny almost entirely from Hero’s view. But he can make out Sunny’s face, his mop of black hair a wreck. Sunny’s eyes are clenched closed, blood covering his face. Hero takes a step forward towards him before his entire body locks up once he realizes what he's seeing.

‘Not again’

There’s- Sunny’s been stabbed in his right eye. It’s deep and horrible. Hero feels sick.

Hero doesn’t know what to do. Basil and Sunny lie in front of him, paler than when he'd dragged their cold and water-logged bodies out of the pond. He loses track of himself for a moment, staring at the two boys trapped in something Hero can barely even begin to understand. Did they attack each other? Wasn't it over? Hadn't they finally figured it all out?

“Hero?” A voice breaks through.

It’s Kel. He’s standing in the doorway, tired eyes filled with concern.

Hero’s stomach turns as he’s violently pulled back into his body. Kel shouldn’t have to see this.

“Don’t look.” Hero commands, remembering that he's the responsible older brother, that he always needs to be the responsible one, “Go call 911. Get Polly.”

“Wait, what? What happened?” Kel asks, panicked as he glances into the room for a moment. Kel immediately jumps back and away from the doorway with a gasp.

"Hero, what the-"

“I don't know, but it'll be okay. Go get help.” Hero says, hoping he sounds confident before turning back to Sunny and Basil. Hero can feel his hands trembling, so he balls them into tight fists, trying to bring himself back under control.

Kel turns around and runs back down the hallway.

Hero still doesn’t know what to do. But he needs to do something.

Lines of books he’s read flash through his head. Hours spent researching injuries, mental illness, first aid, and a million different things just to know what to do in situations like this.

And yet, all Hero knows is that he doesn't know nearly enough to know how to fix this. He feels his palms sweating as he rubs his face, trying to remember what to do. Hero tries to think objectively, removing his feelings from the situation to see what needs to be done.

Sunny and Basil both need to be checked. Basil blocks Hero from seeing the extent of Sunny’s injuries.

He knows not to move someone that’s been injured, but he needs to get Basil off of Sunny to see if Sunny’s ~~alive~~ injured.

Basil clings to Sunny even unconscious as he is, arms wrapped around him with a surprisingly tight hold. But even still, Basil’s too light, his small frame easily moved as Hero slowly uncurls one of Basil's arms from Sunny's side with tender hands. Basil's carefully lifted away in Hero’s arms and as he places him gently on the floor at Sunny's side, Hero can't help but notice that he can feel Basil's ribs even through his sweater. He's too thin for a sixteen year-old.

Just like Sunny.

What happened to these two?

The sinking realization that he’s missed something terribly important dawns on Hero as he slowly moves Basil onto the floor, unclenching Basil’s hands that are grasping onto Sunny’s shirt so tightly they’ve left bloody finger-shaped wrinkles behind.

Basil’s covered in bruises and cuts; some Hero recognizes from yesterday. His eye is swollen. There’s marks around his neck, pale skin easily bruised. Tear tracks stain his face, speckled with blood. Most worryingly, there’s a sticky patch of blond hair turned red that Hero quickly inspects. Basil must have hit his head on something, hard.

Hero remembers reading a handbook on head trauma. Very few people die from it, statistically speaking, but all Hero can think about is the .025% that do.

He needs immediate medical attention. Head wounds can become dangerous.

Hero doesn’t know how to bandage something that severe, can’t remember if he’s supposed to put pressure on it or leave it, doesn’t know what to do.

Hero doesn’t know what to do.

The realization paralyzes him. How could he not know what to do?

His vision wavering, Hero tries to breath. It's hard, but Hero manages to calm down enough to look away from Basil. Sunny's... Sunny needs his attention.

Sunny’s... a wreck. His clothes are torn and dirty, and there's bleeding cuts all over him. They- Hero never realized how easy it was for garden sheers to-to cut so deeply. None are as deep as- Hero can’t make himself look directly at Sunny’s face, stomach churning. There's no way Basil could have done this, right? It's... so brutal.

Hero doesn’t know how to fix this. After all his studying and volunteering and late nights spent pouring over medical textbooks, Hero has never felt more helpless.

Eyes are delicate, sensitive things, easy to hurt but hard to heal. Hero knows better than to touch Sunny’s eye, but the way blood drips out of it like tears has him wanting to cover it up anyway.

Thankfully, Polly enters the room before Hero can move to do that, letting out a quiet gasp that shatters the horrible silence in the room. Polly looks to Hero for answers. He wonders what she sees in his face, the accusation in her gaze practically screaming out at him.

“What happened?” Polly asks, swallowing around her terror.

“I-I don’t know.” Hero says, his voice strained with the truth of it, “They- Sunny’s eye is-“

“My god…” She murmurs, eyes distant as she stares at Basil’s body on the floor, “I had no idea…”

“Polly, do you have a first aid kit?” Hero asks, still kneeling on the floor next to Sunny’s body.

“Yes, yes, of course.” Polly can’t seem to tear her eyes away from Basil for a moment, but she does. She turns and walks out into the hallway. Leaving Hero alone with Sunny and Basil who are both bleeding on the floor.

Trying to figure out what to do, Hero props Sunny's head up in his lap to check for other injuries. His eye definitely seems to be the worst of it, which strikes Hero as odd. It's hard to accidentally do this, but it's still impossible to imagine that Basil did this purposefully. Before Hero can think of the next best way to help fix things, Polly comes back with the first aid kit.

She kneels besides Basil, moving at a speed that impresses Hero as she checks over Basil’s head with careful fingers. She pulls out some gauze from the first aid kit and slowly covers Basil’s head wound.

It’s quiet.

Hero takes some gauze and disinfectant, wiping down the worst of Sunny’s cuts while avoiding his eye.

“I called an ambulance.” Aubrey says from behind him. Hero turns to look over his shoulder.

Aubrey and Kel are standing in the doorway.

Aubrey’s eyes are wide, tears streaming down her face as she looks at him.

Kel- God, Hero’s failed him again.

Kel looks devastated.

For a moment, the three of them meet each other’s eyes and Hero can see his grief reflected on both of their faces.

“I- how can I help?” Kel asks unnaturally quiet.

“We-we need something to shield Sunny’s eye-“ Hero can tell the moment both of them look to see Sunny’s blood-covered face for the first time. Aubrey’s face pales, hand covering her mouth in horror. Kel’s eyes go wide, stunned, but he nods.

“We have paper cups. There’s some in the pantry, I think.” Polly says, eyes still focused on bandaging Basil.

Kel immediately turns to sprint towards the kitchen.

Aubrey stands there.

“Why…” She asks, “How could this happen?!” Her eyes are red, her voice hoarse. Hero realizes that Sunny and Basil and Kel and Mari aren't the only one's he's failed tonight because he couldn’t stop whatever this is from happening

“I don’t know.” Hero replies honestly, “I heard-something, and Sunny wasn’t next to me and…”

“And…?”

“I don’t know, I-I don’t-“ Hero doesn’t know what happened, but- "Everything's going to be fine." He refuses to lose either of these two or anyone else he loves ever again. Not again.

Kel rushes back into the room, familiar paper cups in hand.

Distantly, Hero recognizes them as the paper cups from Basil’s birthday party, all those years ago.

Why did Basil still have these?

“Yes, that’ll work.” Polly says, looking at them without realizing what they are, what they mean.

“Can you cut the top half off? It’s a bit too long.”

Kel passes the cup to Aubrey, who grabs scissors from the first aid kit (and flinches away from the bloody garden sheers she sees when she does so) cutting the sides away to make it shorter and then passes it to Hero.

Hero carefully covers Sunny’s eye, taping the remaining base of the cup around Sunny's injury to cover it.

A scribbly sunflower looks out at them from the base of the cup, the wobbly lines of Sunny’s odd style distinct even these many years later.

Sunny had worked so hard on the decorations for Basil’s party, each paper cup hiding a different flower on the bottom. Sunny hadn’t said a word, but he’d worked for hours. Making sure that hidden flowers could be found everywhere.

Just for Basil.

Basil had seen them. His smile so bright that Hero remembers it even now.

Hero can’t wrap his head around it, this whole situation.

Distantly, Hero thinks he hears an ambulance siren blaring in the distance, slowly moving closer. Sunny’s breathing lightly, completely unconscious. Basil seems to be struggling to breath, each breath a gasp.

But other than the sound of the two of them breathing, it’s silent. No one knows what to say. Hero tries to move Sunny into a more comfortable position on his lap, cradling him in his arms. The sunflower sprouting from Sunny's eye is so out-of-place on his pale bloody face, reminding Hero of a time when they were six instead of five instead of three looking down on two broken kids that Hero had failed.

Hero can’t bear it.

“Sunny, can you hear me? It’s all going to be okay, please just-just hang on.” Hero starts talking, almost pleading he knows, but he can’t help it.

Blood starts to seep into the edges of the cup, red threatening to overtake the sunflower that blooms in place of Sunny’s eye.

All Hero can do now is hold on.


End file.
